Chapter 18

"We all signed non-disclosure agreements with our contracts. It should go without saying, but everything involving our mission and what you hear today remains within our team. Agreed?" Carlos… I mean Ric commanded the room.

"Agreed," we all replied.

"We have… something... to share. Fannie Palmer's real name is Stephanie Guzman-Manoso. You all know she's my wife. For her safety, please refer to her by her military name of Fannie Palmer. Being part of a special ops group, we don't want to tip off anyone regarding our relationship. Avoid referring to her as my wife or referring to me as her husband," he told them.

"Can't we use Little Girl to lure him?" Tank asked retuning discussion to our mission. I could see Carlos did not like that suggestion at all. I didn't either. Something was telling me Hernandez wouldn't be distracted by me.

Ram immediately said, "She is not to be used as a distraction. We'll need to find another way to lure Hernandez." He started acting like a protective older brother after we first met. I knew I could count on him to have my back.

"If all else fails," he snapped not pleased Ram defended me.

"It would be our best option," Tank continued to argue.

I could see my husband getting angry and needed to put an end to their disagreement. "Tank, I agree with Ric. If there is no other way, I'll be a distraction. I have a feeling I won't be the person distracting him." My eyes flitted towards the other men.

When our dinner arrived, Ram paid and let me dish up my plate before anyone else had a chance. "Ladies first," he said swatting Lester's hands away. It was so funny watching a tough military man cower. The other men wisely let me grab my food first. It was a very nutritious Ranger diet approved meal, but I knew we'd be living off packaged meals during the mission.

The plans were finalized a few hours after we finished eating. I started collecting the dirty dishes to be washed. Tank and Bobby removed the dishes from my hands. Lester lifted me into his arms and sat with me on his lap. Ram and Carlos collected the garbage. "Whatcha doing cousin?" I asked.

"Just keeping you from working," he replied. We talked quietly about the mission and his concerns about my safety. He kept apologizing for interfering in Carlos and my relationship years ago.

"I'll be fine Les and stop apologizing. It's done and in the past."

"But it's a long time to be in one position. Don't women take lots of pee breaks?" he joked. I knew Lester was incapable of sitting still for long periods of time. As a sniper, I was used to the lack of movement. I think Lester has an undiagnosed case of ADHD. It makes for a horrible sniper, but an excellent soldier. How he managed to get through explosives training will always amaze me.

"Worst case scenario... I piss my pants," I joked back.

"You don't seem to concerned about that possibility," he was surprised.

"It wouldn't be the first time," I joked. We laughed until the mercenary cleaning crew returned. Of course we had to share the conversation. We arranged a meeting time before the men left.

"They all love you," Carlos said as he wrapped his arms around my waist. My stomach started feeling queasy, but I passed it off as nerves.

"I love them too... like I would a brother." We talked about each man on our team. I was surprised to learn he's been friends to Tank and Bobby since he moved to Miami. They planned to join the army together. Tank, Lester and Bobby all attended college for a few years before enlisting. We were too busy training to have this discussion earlier. There was no time for socializing during training.

I told him when I met Ram and how he was always watching over me during our shared weekends off. "I never dated him," I added when Carlos started acting jealous.

"He didn't want you to takes any risks," he snarled.

"Ram was just worried about me. Cal and Ram are my overprotective older brothers."

"Which one is Cal?" he was struggling to put a face to the name.

I had to laugh since it was an exercise in futility. Nobody would call him by his name. "He's known as Flamin Fred, but I don't like his nickname. It makes him sound like a flamboyant gay male." I'm not bashing the gay community or flamboyant people. I also have nothing against a person's sexual preference. Unfortunately it was the conclusion our fellow soldiers drew once they heard his nickname. Cal is neither flamboyant nor is he gay.

"Yes, I've heard that rumour before. I knew he wasn't gay because he could never keep his eyes off your sexy ass," he quickly added. Both Cal and Ram expressed interest in dating me, but I wasn't interested. My heart has always belonged to Carlos.

Our day started at 0400. We were meeting the team on base at 0500. Carlos and I made love in our bed then again in the shower. It was going to be tough while we're away on our mission. My hormones were shifting into overdrive. I needed sex almost as much as I needed to breathe. We dressed in black fatigues. Our clothing was devoid of all military insignia. If our mission goes sideways, we're basically on our own.

I'm sharing my tent with Bobby, Tank with Carlos and Lester with Ram. Carlos and I wouldn't be able to get intimate for the next six weeks. We've lasted longer without sex before so I knew we could this time too. It was best to maintain distance during our mission. One misstep would endanger our entire team.

The men had their packs ready to go. We quickly checked to make sure we had everything needed for our trip. Ram passed me a long range rifle. I was pleased he selected my favourite one. "This one's for you too," he said as he passed me another one. I opened the case and immediately noticed it was brand new.

"Where did you get her? She's beautiful," I ran my fingers down the barrel of the rifle. I would need to practice with her before using her on a mission.

"She's lightweight and her case will fit into your pack," he said as he closed the case and opened my pack. After shifting a few items, he zipped my pack closed. "Test the weight." He held out my pack for me to pull over my shoulders.

"It added maybe a couple pounds, but I can handle it. Thank you Ram," I patted his cheek.

"You should be thanking your uncle," he whispered.

Another Ranger team started piling in the Jeep next to us. I recognized Cal immediately. "Hey buddy," I called out to him. My team was watching me closely. We are working with the other group on this mission.

"Hey Fannie, are you ready?" he excitedly asked. I could feel the buzz in the air. These men were ready to take on the world.

"More than ready," I responded. We loaded into our Jeeps. Conversation was kept to non-mission related subjects. It didn't take us long to reach the airfield. A large helicopter was waiting for us to board. As I buckled myself in, I realized something... we have to parachute from the plane.

Bobby sat beside me and pulled me into his lap and whispered, "You can do this Fanny. Remember you parachuted from the plane last week."

"It's not the same. I've practiced landing in the spot. This is a strange tree dense field located in an unfamiliar country," I whispered in his ear.

"Trust in your skills. I know you can do this," he whispered before placing a kiss to my cheek.

The other team watched my interaction with my team. I could tell they were trying to work through something. It took a few hours on the helicopter to arrive at the next airfield where we would transfer to the Army plane.

Hal, Carlos, Tank and Zero were discussing strategy. Cal sat next to me to talk. "Fannie, is everything alright?"

"Yes, why do you ask?"

"It just seems like you're worried about something and I've never seen the guys so protective of you before," he relayed his observation.

"I'm good Cal. I didn't have time to visit with Mama and Papa before this mission. We had to sign a living will and put our affairs in order. We're in the big league now," I decided to joke.

"Ya... that was a real eye opener. We didn't have time to visit our families either. It was a bit daunting at first," he was still being serious. "There wasn't time for a phone call either."

"Nope. No time at all," I agreed.

It's been four weeks since we arrived at this horrid location. My team wanted to use me as a distraction, but I thought Junior or Lester would be more appropriate to use. "Babe. We need you to distract him," Carlos whispered again as he lay on the flat roof beside me.

"No Ric, use Les or Junior... preferably Junior. Watch him for a few minutes. Look through my scope," I pointed to the scope then in the direction of the house.

He looked through the scope and watched Jose Hernandez. A man in his mid twenties with dark hair and light skin was standing behind our target. He was slightly shorter than Hernandez. We watched as he wrapped his arms around Hernandez and kissed his neck. Hernandez stretched his neck to give his partner more room. "Babe," he whispered before pushing the scope away. We could see how much Hernandez was enjoying the attention from the attractive man.

I watched Ric move away and motion for Lester, Junior, Hal and Manny to follow him. He quietly relayed what we saw and made a suggestion. Manny was too bulky, Lester was a bit tall, but he's a very sexy man. Hernandez would find him appealing. My best bet would be for Junior to approach Hernandez and use Lester to distract the other man. Junior's built like Lester but an inch shorter. Hernandez appears to appreciate men the same height or shorter than him. Lester is slightly taller. It may be enough for Hernandez to pass him over.

"What does Fan think?" Junior asked.

"You have the best chance Junior," he admitted.

Lester decided to interject, "What if I distract the partner? Would that help?" Ric nodded since we wanted to end this tonight. It was going to take some time to hike to our extraction site.

I watched through the scope as Lester and Junior made their way into the compound and to the house. They were pretending to be drunk and completely into each other. Watching those two hot men kiss was such a turn on. The guard granted them access to the house. Lester moved in behind the young man and started stroking his neck. Hernandez turned around to see Junior pull up his shirt without removing it, giving the older man a teasing glance of his perfect abs. The teams outside the house got into position. I knew Cal and Manny had their weapons trained on the guards at the back.

Ram had his gun trained on the guard at the front door. When Lester moved the young man away, Junior moved Hernandez into the perfect position for me to line up the shot. I was about to tap my radio when Bobby crawled beside me. "Ric says to take the shot when you can," he whispered. I pulled the trigger and hit Hernandez above the right ear. The bullet went through his head, exiting through his left ear and hit the wall beside him. Junior quickly removed the bullet from the wall. Lester had snapped the young man's neck when he heard the shot. We couldn't afford to leave any evidence behind.

Tank and Hal entered the house to help Les and Junior erase the evidence. I dismantled my rifle and packed it back into its case. Once my weapon was secure in my pack, I removed all traces of my time on the roof. I needed to get off this damn roof. Ram was waiting for me at the back of the building. I hung my feet over, keeping my torso flat across the roof. He tapped my feet so I knew he was waiting. I pushed off the wall and dropped into his arms. It's been almost 48 hours since I last slept. I was completely drained. We still needed to hike for a few hours to get far enough away from the compound.

I got my second wind when our team met at the designated location a mile away. Once I saw Carlos, I wanted to get far away from here. We hiked another five miles before making camp in a thicket of trees. I moved into the brush to relieve my bladder. Carlos came to check on me. Bobby and Junior were standing guard.

"We should stay close together," Hal suggested.

"Agreed," Ric confirmed. Tank and Ric... I mean Carlos decided to take first shift. I snuggled between Ram and Cal to fall asleep. Ram was curled around my back with his hand resting protectively around me. My arm was wrapped around Cal's chest, holding him close to me. His back was pressed into my chest. It didn't bother him to have Ram's hand pressed against his ass.

After four hours of sleep, I woke up needing to take a pee. "Ram sweetie, you need to let me go," I begged as Ram pulled me closer to him.

"Sorry Fan," he whispered back before releasing me. Bobby jumped to his feet to assist me. He held my hand while we maneuvered between the trees in the dark.

"There's a bush here," he said using our joined hands to show me. I really didn't want him to let go of my hand.

"Don't go," I whispered as I started pulling down my pants. I squatted to use the pee funnel and tube Bobby gave me to direct the urine away from my feet. "Thanks."

He reached for my hand when I finished. We walked back to camp holding hands. Our crude shelter was packed away by the time we returned. I grabbed my pack and secured it to my back. It was time to move further away. Six hours later we were at a safe distance from the compound. We encountered a local camp our Army was operating. Ric and Hal took a few minutes to check in on behalf of our teams. Since we were a few days early, we were asked to remain in the camp for 24 hours.